Planetary Science
Dragonfly is NASA's 4th New Frontiers program mission that will send a robotic rotorcraft to fly within the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan to sample materials and determine surface composition in different geologic settings, advancing humanity's search for the building blocks of life. The craft is a large quadcopter with double rotors with mass of about 875 kg, featuring rotors of 1.35 m in diameter. It can fly through several kilometers within an hour and will perform 1 flight per Titan day (~16 Earth days). During the planned 3.3-year mission, Dragonfly is expected to cover distance up to several hundred km. Dragonfly will use a Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) to power its instruments. The planned science instrument suite is: * DragonCam: Camera Suite * DrACO: Drill for Acquisition of Complex Organics * DraMS: Mass Spectrometer * DraGNS: Gamma-ray and Neutron Spectrometer * DraGMet: Geophysics and Meteorology
Orbital Attempt
#7,563
SpX Mission
#786
Pad Launch
#233
Location Launch
#295
Jul 5, 2028, 12:00 AM
Day
1 update
Added launch.
SourceThe Falcon Heavy is a variant of the Falcon 9 full thrust launch vehicle and consists of a standard Falcon 9 rocket core, with two additional boosters derived from the Falcon 9 first stage.
Length
70 m
Diameter
12.2 m
Launch Mass
1,400 t
Thrust
22,819 kN
LEO Capacity
63,800 kg
GTO Capacity
26,700 kg
Launch Cost
$90M
Reusable
Yes
Maiden Flight
2018
Fastest Turnaround
2mo 14d
Total Launches
12
Successful
12
Failed
0
Consecutive Success
12
Maiden flight: Feb 6, 2018
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and enabling the colonization of Mars. SpaceX operates from many pads, on the East Coast of the US they operate from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and historic LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. They also operate from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, usually for polar launches. Another launch site is being developed at Boca Chica, Texas.
Founded
2002
Administrator
CEO: Elon Musk
Total Launches
681
Successful
666
Failed
15
Pending
120
Consecutive Success
166
The John F. Kennedy Space Center, located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of NASA's ten field centers. Since 1968, KSC has been NASA's primary launch center of American spaceflight, research, and technology. Launch operations for the Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle programs were carried out from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 and managed by KSC. Located on the east coast of Florida, KSC is adjacent to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS).
Timezone
America/New_York
Local Launch Time
Jul 4, 2028, 8:00 PM
Total Launches
281
Total Landings
0
Coordinates
28.5242, -80.6508